All photos by Isabella Moore

Isabella Moore is a documentary photographer who has shot for The Guardian, the New York Times, Condé Nast, and Dazed Digital. Midway through last year she moved to Darwin, where she’s built up a library of photos of clear skies and pristine swimming holes that make us want to board the next plane to the Northern Territory. We asked Isabella about keeping your cool in one of the hottest places in Australia.

VICE: Hi Isabella. What brought you to Darwin?
Isabella Moore: I moved here to start a job as a news photographer at the infamous NT News. But the real sweetener was the prospect of learning about Indigenous cultures and taking photos of the alluring beauty of the Top End terrain. I’d imagined it to be a kind of wild, wild west of Australia.

So how does it compare to your expectations of the place?
I fell in love with Darwin because of the rawness of its seemingly untouched nature and landscape. When I first arrived I was greeted by a waveless turquoise sea on one end, and a tropical savannah for frogs, bush turkeys, possums and flying foxes on the other. I arrived at 2 AM and took a cab straight to where I was staying, and I felt like I had been transported to a jungle. I swear I could hear an orangutan swinging from tree to tree, and the heat just made me feel like I was in a tropical part of Asia. It was very surreal. I mean, you can pick coconuts straight from a tree in your street, pop off the lid when you get home and drink them! I didn’t expect that I’d be so profoundly close to the nature or be kept awake at night by a frog disco penetrating the inner depths of my ear.

What’s summer like in the Northern Territory?
The Top End is so close to the equator that the seasons are vastly different to the south of Australia. It’s divided between the wet and the dry season, but it’s practically summer all year round with an average temperature in the high 30s during the day. I’d say the dry season, which is actually the southern winter, equates closer to ‘summer’ because there’s a dry heat present, which is much more comfortable to bear and you can actually enjoy the quality of the heat. Unlike the wet season, where you sweat within five minutes of going outside.

It’s a 32 degree day. What do you and your friends do to stay cool?
I might change that to 36; that’s quite normal in Darwin and people forget how hot it gets up here. Our fun is strongly dictated by the season we’re in, so if it’s the dry season, we go to Berry Springs to dip in the closest freshwater waterhole, which is 40 minutes away. In the dry season, camping with friends at waterfalls and waterholes is the hottest topic. It’s the most beautiful time of year to go on bushwalking adventures, swim in the waterholes, and connect with the nature. We usually walk in the morning, swim all day, and then eat cheese and cake until we fall asleep.

The other side of summer is getting a group of friends together and going to the crazy rodeo or walking through the mangroves to reach the sea at midnight, or going to costume parties where everyone gets so into the theme. For some reason people in Darwin are obsessed with costume parties.

If it’s the wet season, we hang out in friends’ pools in their front yards or go to the local pools. Or we just drown in our own sweat while sipping on mango, coconut and lime smoothies from the markets.

What’s your favourite waterhole?
Edith Falls is the absolute epitome of heaven in my opinion. When I first laid my eyes on it, I swear I felt touched by the heavens above. I think I actually shed a tear. There is a bottom pool, middle pool, and a very top pool, and you can bushwalk to reach them all. It’s never too crowded and there’s a beautiful waterfall you can climb up to see the view. Another place I find amazing is a waterfall at an indigenous community called Beswick Falls. It’s very beautiful—but full of freshwater crocodiles, which is fine because they are more scared of you then you are of them unlike with saltwater crocodiles. The surrounding areas are made up of a gushing creek that’s invigorating and so much fun to swim in.

Where do the locals go to chill out?
I find that Darwin locals like to chill out by either fishing or drinking at pubs. I guess they also head to waterholes every now and then, but I think because they’re used to nature being on their doorstep, they’d probably just stay at home and swim in their pools.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever witnessed in the Northern Territory?
The day that Malcolm Turnbull defeated Tony Abbott in the Liberal Leadership ballot, I was celebrating with friends at about 10 PM sitting by the pool, when all of a sudden I saw a roughly three metre long python slithering across the top of the wooden picket fence. It moved so slowly and elegantly along the top, and it was an amazing moment where I felt so close to the wildness of nature.

What’s your favourite photo that you’ve taken in the Northern Territory during summer, and can you tell us the story behind it?It was at Edith falls. I’d set up my tent so I could walk down to the top pool to take pictures of the cliff with the stars at night. I was petrified that crocodiles, wild pigs or snakes would attack me, but I was so inspired by the landscape that I just felt compelled to do it. I carried my tripod past millions of frogs and planted myself opposite the vision I intended on capturing, and I came back with this mega photo that I love so much.

You can follow Isabella Moore on Instagram

This article is presented in partnership with Captain Morgan